Newsletter February 2023 Part 1

Led by God’s Spirit

 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”  And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20:21-23)

     After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples as they were assembled with the doors shut for fear.  Despite the empty tomb and Mary’s testimony of her encounter with the risen Lord, they were still afraid of those who had killed Jesus.  Suddenly He stood in their midst, blessed them and commissioned them to continue the task He had begun – to reconcile a sinful world to God through the forgiveness of sins.  It was now for them to proclaim this truth, so that all who believe in Him could receive eternal life.  However, Jesus did not send them in their own strength and ability; He breathed His Spirit on them.  Because they believed in Him and received the forgiveness that His sacrifice on the cross brought they were now able to receive the Holy Spirit. (John 7:38-39)   

     Before going to the cross, Jesus had spoken to His disciples in private about the coming of the Helper.  The word Parakletos used in the original Greek text of John’s gospel and translated in a variety of ways in the English versions, means ‘one who comes alongside’.  Jesus had told the disciples that it was necessary for Him to go away, to ascend to the Father, so that the Spirit could come, not just to dwell with them but in them. (John 14:17)     

     Although Jesus is not with us in body as He was with those first disciples, He is present by the Spirit.  Through the Spirit He comes alongside us and communicates with us concerning every aspect of our lives.  He knows the future and therefore He is able to guide us through the uncertainties we face.  In a time when all we have trusted in seems to have failed, we can have the confidence that the presence of the almighty and all-knowing God is with us.  The Spirit of truth in us keeps us from deception by bringing to our remembrance all that Jesus taught and by telling us things to come. (John 16:13).  Whatever the future may bring, whatever our fears may be, we find peace in the knowledge that the One who has overcome the world remains with us. (John 16:33).

     So how do we hear His voice?  How can we know what God is saying to us?  By seeking Him in prayer.  It is when we take time alone with God, when we shut out the noises of the world around us, that we learn to hear His voice.  As a child recognises the familiar voice of a parent, those who spend time in the arms of the heavenly Father learn to discern the voice and prompting of His Spirit. 

     While He was on earth, Jesus Himself taught us by His example the importance of prayer.  Despite His busy ministry with people following Him, asking Him questions about the kingdom of God, and wanting Him to attend to their physical and spiritual needs, Jesus made time to be alone with His Father.  It was in those times, often at night when others were sleeping, that He received instruction.

     When the religious leaders accused Jesus of blasphemy, of making Himself equal with God by calling God His Father, Jesus told them, (John 5:19) “... the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does the Son also does in like manner.”  When He was about to leave earth and return from His human existence to His heavenly home, He said to His disciples, (John 16:23), “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. ... (16:26-27) In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.  Through the death and resurrection of His Son, God has made the way for His Spirit to live in us; therefore now, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the Sons of God. (Romans 8:14)

Pastor Konrad